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/nbcmorial Sermon 



DELIVERED BY 



REV, JOHN w, imn 



QHdFLdIN 



i)EF/^iTnEPT ©r rEPK15TL¥i^PllA 



Grand Army of the Republic. 



g^^The Department Commander requests that this sermon be read 
at a regular or special meeting of the Post. 

J. F. MORRISON, A. A. G. 



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.1 ■ 

.T370 S36 



SEf^lWON. 



*fP^y faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice 
than Cain, by which he obtained witnesses that he 
was righteous ! God testifying of his gifts and by it he 
being dead yet speaketh. Heb. XL: 4. 

Human life is of short duration. Of all our years but 
few may be devoted to the accomplishment of great pur- 
poses. The years of helpless infancy, those required for 
education and training and those occupied by the weakness 
of age, even if we outlive our alloted three score and ten, 
do not leave many for the active and aggressive work 
which brings to us a name that will not be forgotten after 
we are gone. Hence few men, of all the earth's millions 
ever do much that is remembered after them. It is, there- 
fore, not so much what men may accomplish in this life as 
it is what their work may do for the world after they are 
dead. "Art is long and life is short," is an old proverb. 
Art lives long after life has passed away. The living man 
talks to his day and generation and the living hear him. 
The dead man if he talks at all, does so to the ages which 
succeed him and it matters not whether his life was emi- 
nently good or notoriously wicked, he still talks. 

"The evil that men do lives after them: 
The good is oft interred with their bones:" 

This, however, does not express a whole truth for the 



<^ood lives always to a iio])lc purpose and keeps the world 
slowlv niovinjj^ toward the rij^ht. 

Abel was the second son of Adam, and the fourth liunian 
being of whom tin.- oldest history gives us any account. 
IIowe\er righteous he may have been, he could, while liv- 
ing, ha\-e had but lew auditors to whom he could impart 
his knowledge or iuthience b\- his exam})le. 

What his life was to do for the world, was to be done in 
after ages, when men should require great lessons and the 
race should need teaching by example. The writers of 
the Holy Scriptures were not inspired for their day and 
generation alone, but for all time. 

Through the ages they have been speaking and will con- 
tinue to speak through an influence that has widened, 
as education has broadened the lives of people. Solomon 
speaks wi.sdom to-day as much as when he wrote the prov- 
erbs which have been golden grain in the fields of every 
generation since his time. Paul speaks to this generation 
upon doctrinal points, as authoriti\eh- as when he wrote 
the wonderful epistles which have l)ecome the text books 
of Christian teaching. They being dead yet speak. Christ's 
word and promises uttered nineteen hundred years ago, 
still bring comfort and strength to the believer's heart as 
though his words of love and eucotiragement were audiblv 
whisjjered in their ears. These truths bring us to the 

reflection that 

■'It is not all of life to live, 
Nor all of death to die." 

Life would be to us a soleuni fact even if we knew that 
it ended absoluteh' with the death of the bodv. lUit when 



^ 



we realize that we are to live on and speak and teaeli 
through the ages, either for good or ill, according to what 
we have done, then the judgement after death, should be- 
come to us a tremendous incentive to duty before God, in 
order that our sacrifice may be acceptable to Him. 

There are two sorts of sacrifice mentioned in the text, 
one of them more excellant than the other. The one was 
of the firstlings of the flock and the fat thereof, offered in 
faith and love and self devotion. The other of the quickly 
perishing fruits of the ground, of little value indifferently 
tendered, without gratitude to the giver of all good and 
from hands that were unclean and a heart that was per- 
verse and wicked. The one was a sacrifice of atonement 
for sin, a pious expression of humility and unworthiness 
and a supplication for Divine favor ; while the other was a 
formal and heartless offering of mere acknowledgement 
accompanied by a haughty spirit and an indifferent manner 
which did not commend the act to God's favor. 

From the time that sin entered the world and death by 
sin, the two powers of good and evil have been at constant 
warfare, striving against each other and contending for the 
supremacy. In the old Persian religion it was the light 
against the darkness — Ormuzd, the principle of purity and 
goodness, against Ahriman the principal of impurity and 
evil. In our theology it is Satan against God. Between 
these inharmonious elements humanity has had a long and 
weary march and a sad struggle through all the centuries. 
The very civilization under which we live has been secured 
only by hard fighting. It has been built up through ages 



of torture, sufferini; and discomforts. The foundations of 
human j^ox-ernment have l)een laid in ruin and blood, 
wliik- tlu rclij^ion whicli we enjt)y has had its lo*^ic worked 
DUt in the darkness and solitude of the dunj^^eon, and its 
faith |)uriiicd 1)\- the fires of niartyrdoni. Our si)iritual 
stren^ifth has ])een increased to us throu.^h the a_s^onies of 
the cross whik- our h()i)es have been assured to us and 
brightened tln\)Ui;h llic triuniplis by which through God, 
we have overcome the assaults of the adversary and the 
persecutions of the world. "In the world," said Christ, "ye 
shall ha\-e tribulation; l)ut be of o;ood cheer; I ha\-e over- 
come the world." The only sacrifice God requires of us 
to-day is that of the lowly and contrite heart. 

The text presents to us man)- important to])ics for 
thought. We gather here and there from the Bible many 
abscract declarations each of which men sometimes accept 
SiS the essence of Christian duty. Many of these things, 
possibly all of them are pleasing to God; but taken separately 
they are far from establishing the acceptabilitv of ouroiferr 
ing to God. (loodne.ss is a quality in our nature that God 
approves; but mere ])assi\-e goodness will not sa\e the soul 
nor win the world to Christ. Hope is an attribute divineh' 
inspired within us; but it will not save n> if it becomes the 
only element in our relij^ious lite. Thousands of nu-n wil- 
fully sin against Ciod's law and \et \-ainh- ho])e for his 
mercy. Charit\- is a most \'alnable (jnalitx' in man and one 
lh.it has the lii^^liest commendation of the Master; but in a 
worldly .sense, we may exercise charit\ to the ntnu)St of 
our means and oppoitn.iities and still miss heawn at last, 



Faitli is dnotlict essential to the make-up of the perfect 
man, but taken alone it is but one step up the ladder that 
leads towards God. For faith, said the A])ostle James, "if 
it has not works is dead, being alone." xA.nd works, which 
embrace so much in their comprehensive meanino, which 
of themselves so nearly make the perfect man, only justify 
and do not save us. We must add to our works obedience 
and faith to make our offering pleasing and acceptable to 
God. Abraham, in obedience to the Divine command, car- 
ried the child of his love to the altar. The sacrifice was 
complete in the act, even without the shedding of blood or 
the kindling of the fire. Faith in the Divine wisdom 
which issued the decree and ready obedience to comply 
with the command, completed the trial of his faith and it 
was imputed to him for righteousness. 

It is important therefore, in the sacrifices we are called 
upon to make, that we shall have a witness to our righteous- 
ness — important that, that which speaks for us when we 
have gone hence, shall have the approval of God. 

The great anchor to Christian faith is the immortality of 
the soul. Are we to live to all eternity in another world 
after this life is over? It would be a dreadful thought to 
contemplate, as a truth, that this life forever ended our 
mission. That the soul which dwells within this body 
shall perish and be no more. That this wondrous spirit of 
ours that thinks and plans and acts, that loves and hopes 
and worships, shall die and vanish like an extinguished 
flame. That death shall forever separate us from all these 
scenes of loveliness, from all these associations of friend- 



ship and alllctiou, froni all thi> intercourse through which 
we contri\e and plan lor the interest and happiness of 
others. That we shall look into each others faces no more 
nor recall the many joys which have liji^hted uj) our lives 
and made ns th.ankful to God for our existence. 

"Ala.; lor love if that were all, 
And nought beyond, O earth." 

We do not entertain the thou^lit; we dismiss it becau.sc 
we do not believe it. Ood\s word of revelation .says that it 
is not true. Our yearning natures look into the beyond 
and acce]>t the verit>- of holy writ. ]>ul does death draw a 
line of absolute separaticku between this world and the next? 
The livin.o- cannot cro.ss the boundry as Enoch and Elijah 
did without ^oinj^ throus^h the dark valley. I>ut may not 
tlu- disembodied spirits come back to us? Even though 
their presence be invisible may the>- not be round and 
about us and though dead, S])eak to our spirits? An^^els 
came to Lot at vSodoui. They a])piare(l in tlu' IK-avens 
and sau!:; the sono ot " Peace on earth;'' o\er the ])lains of 
Ik-thlehem. They ministered to Christ in his temptation. 
They rolled the stone from His sepidehre and announced 
His resurrection to the weejjiui; women. We are a.ssured 
that God sc-nds His ministering ano^els to earth U])()n errands 
of mercy and lo\-e. Surel\- then our dead are not lost to 
US. They do return to us, the)' communicate with our 
s])irits and minister to our needs. How londK- we think 
of our dead. How lox-in^ly we cherish their memories. 
Hctw wi- Ioul; for the old affection and companionship, 
I low we si''h for 



The touch ol a vanished hand, 

And the sound of a voice that is still! 

And yet not feel the one nor hear the otlier; but some- 
how, being dead they do speak: and oh the influence of the 
thoughts of these departed loved ones upon our conduct 
and lives. We call them tenderly and lovingly into our 
reveries and musings. We summon them to our side in 
our hours of loneliness and solitude, we communicate with 
them in the night watches and cherish them in our affec- 
tions and thoughts. 

If we are to speak after death as the characters described 
in the text are speaking, it becomes of the highest impor- 
tance that we shall live right lives and do righteous deeds, 
that our teachings may be pure and our example be beyond 
reproach. Think of all eternity through which we shall 
look back upon the influence we have left behind us 
whether for good or ill. Think of Herod the Great, 
clothed with kingly power but with hands reeking with 
the blood of his murdered household, until Augustus said 
of him that he would rather be Herod's swine than his 
son. Think of his murder of the innocents that among 
them he might destroy the infant Saviour. 

Think of all his dreadful crimes, which have brought to 
his memory the execrations of the ages and then turn to 
the babe of Bethlehem, whose after life was a series ot 
sorrows and persecutions but who went about doing good, 
leaving at last to the world the grand legacy of the Cross 
upon which he suffered death. What a lesson for us to 
contemplate to-day. 



Count me o'er earth's t hosen heroes, — ihey 

Were souls that stood alone, 
While the men they agonized for liurk-d 

The contumelious stone, 
Stood serene, and tiown tiie future saw the 

Golden l)eam incline 
To tlie side of perfect justice, mastered by 

Their faitli ilivine. 
By one man's plain truth to manhood and 

To God's supreme desij;n. 

What tliere'tbrc shall he ihv iialnix' of our sacrifice? It 
may he a liard ihiiiL; to hold ourselves aloof from sin when 
it presents itself in some alluring and attractive form. It 
may be difficult to overcome the envy and selfishness of our 
own hearts and to satisfy ourselves that we are our brothers' 
keepers, when the advantaj^es of preferment and gain are 
in our favor. It may be a hard struggle to overcome our 
natural tendencies to self indulgence and ignoble ease. In 
fact our disinclination to submit to wholesome restraints 
ma\- make dut\- an irksome path for us to pursue. Hut 
Ood demands the sacrifice of our entire lives to his .service. 
Through the text the same choice is offered to us, that 
Joshua offered to the tribes in his last interview with them. 
"Choose \e this day whom ye will serve," whether the God 
of your fathers or the false Gods of the people in whose 
land ye dwell. Ours must be an acceptable .sacrifice. 

It is certain that we cannot scr\-e two masters; if we love 
sin we canncjt be obedient to God; if we serve Mammon we 
cannot honor Christ. The Master ga\-e us a safe rule for 
our lailh when he declared the first and great command- 
iiunt to be, "Thou >halt lo\-e thi- Lord tin ( rod with all 
thy soul, and with all tin mind and that the second is like 
unto it, thou shalt hne lli\ neiglibor as thwsclf." 



To offer any sacrifice we must come before God with clean 
hands and pure hearts. "The sacrifice of the wicked is an 
abomination to the Lord," said the wise man. Cain's offer- 
ing was not acceptal)le because of his sin, nor will ours be 
if it is not offered in the sincerit}' of our lives and purpose. 

Nations like individuals arc moral personages and are 
alike responsible to (jod for their conduct. If they would 
secure the commendation of the great Master their sacri- 
fices before Him must be acceptable and pleasing to Him. 
It is the righteous offering only that obtains the witness. 
Where are all the mighty nations of the past which sacri- 
ficed so much of human life to satisf}' their ambition? 
Where are the mighty conquerors whose terrible armies 
shook the earth with their tread? Where are all the gov- 
ernments whose foundations have been built upon the ruins 
of others which they had destroyed? Their own fall and 
ruin speaks through the pages of history the voice of warn- 
ing against oppression and sin and utter the solemn proph- 
ecy that, before the God of nations, no sacrifice can ever 
obtain the witness unless it be righteous and acceptable to 
him." Look at the pyramids, and the ruined temples and 
tombs of Egypt reared by the blood-sweat of starved and 
oppressed millions. Look at the great mounds among the 
Euphrates and the Tigris, the sad remains of splendid ar- 
chitecture which time has mercifully concealed under her 
shifting sands. 

Look at the magnificent ruins of Greece and Rome — 
fragments still remaining of temple and altar, reared to the 
worship of the false; sculptured column and architrave, 



statues of marble and pedestal of granite, all broken and 
fallen under a destructive policy more debasin*,^ and false 
ilian the worshii) whicli dra^^ed llieni (U)\vn. liein*; dead 
they s}x-ak, but in minor tones of sadness which cast a dee}) 
«^lot)m o\er the memor\- of their greatness. 

\\\- need not ^numerate the nationalities, but from Ej^ypt 
down tt) the last goxerninent that has lallen all, without 
exception, bear upon their foreheads the mark of Cain. 
The\- have been the oppressors and slayers of their people 
and the hand of vengeance, which they raised against 
others, has not been sta\'ed b)- others against them. They 
being dead speak to the nations of to-day more forcibly 
than the li\-ing nations can s])eak. 

We see from these facts that the book of the ])ast is open 
to the people of this country. The lessons of beginning, 
growth and developement are upon its pages for our profit. 
The les.sons of rise and fall are there for (mr warning. The 
lesson of success and eniinent attainnient, under conditions 
which made the offering acceptable before God, are written 
there for our encouragement. The lessons of decline under 
circumstances through which cu])idit)- and and)ition have 
filled the cup of antiquit\- to the brim and made the sacri- 
fice a heartless nu)ckery, are also there, bidding ns beware 
of the sins which resulted in hopeless ruin. Sureh ^\•e 
ha\e had e.\am])les and lessons enough to teach us that we 
cannot discard \irtue, forget (iod aud e.\])ecl llnough siu 
l<i j)ro.s])er. Il we lea\e the aucieul landula^k^ we will 
lose our wa\' and wdl ue\er reach the high destiu\ that 
lias formed the ideal ot our just and)ili(in. If we ai'e uol a 

iu 



God-fearing and tfuth4oving people; if we forget onf tradi- 
tions and tnrn onr backs npon Divine revelation, we will 
become as chaff before the wind and onr nuich loved insti- 
tntions will perish. 

Let ns look for a moment at onr traditions. We were a 
land of promise, held in reserve while the gteat experiment 
of social life was being worked out in the Old VVorld* 
The time came when the developing energies of the Old 
Nationalities must have new fields for their enterprise. 
They were held in bondage b}- old customs and fallicies 
regarding social life. False notions of trade and of govern- 
ment were impediments to advancement and false religions 
were standing in the way of gospel truth and gospel liberty. 

Columbus was raised up by Providence as a pioneer into 
new fields. He sailed to the West full of religious zeal and 
enthusiasm, searching for the shores of an old land but 
found a new world. He looked upon the approaching shore 
from the deck of his vessel with glad surprise. 

He had discovered a new country of inviting climate and 
balmy air; a very paradise to look upon. His first impulse 
was to give the glory to God. His first act in landing upon 
the shore was the worship of Almighty God and a dedica- 
tion of the land to Him in the name of the Sovereigns of 
Spain. He came back to the field of his discovery believ- 
ing that, as a part of his mission he was to convert the 
heathen of the new land to the Christian faith. He was 
mistaken in his calling. The fruits he brought to the sac- 
rifice were of the earth earthy and his offering was not 
accepted. 



( )iR- hundred and Iwciit)- \cars later amid the stonns of 
wiulc-r a little leiiipLst-tosscd \essel anehored in a shelter- 
ing^ hay tar up the coast. Tlu- scene slu)re\vard was the 
opposite tt> that upon which Columbus had looked. The 
winter was severe, the cold was intense, the forests were 
dark and forbidding, the inhabitants were hostile and 
savage. There was nothing in\itiu^ or inspirin,(y in the 
landscape. lUit the laud before them was to be their home- 
It was a courat^eous compau\' that had come Un- freedom's 
sake. That little ship, the Mayflower, was destined for a 
memorable place in histor\-. Within its cabin this Repub- 
lic had its orio^in in the comjiact that was signed by brave 
and religions men, declaring their faith in (jod and the 
right of men to worshij) Him according to the dictates of 
conscience, a com]')act sealed with tears of faith and made 
holy by ])rayer. 

The foundation of our system which vouchsafes freedom 
to men and which ])roclaims liberty to the world was 
there laid in religions truth and for God's glorv. That 
olTering was the more excellent sacrifice and God approved 
it. 

Religious freedom was henceforth to be the watchword 
throughout our land and the ])rincij)le upon which a new 
nation was to be built. 

Tuder its influence social life was to(levelo]\ Men were to 
be made better and the race was to be lifted higher in the 
.scale of being. Muman life- u]M)u this conliueul was to 
e.vperieiice a grand d<\elopement — an evolution towaid a 
more exalted sphere of manhood and true li\ing. 



The last Sabbath of that voyage was spent upon the ves- 
sel in holy worship. Earnest, fervent prayers were offered. 
Hymns of praise were sung and covenants with Ciod were 
renewed. 

"Amidst the storm they sang, 

And the stars heard and the sea, 
And the sounding aisles of the dmi woods rang, 
To tlie Anthems of the free." 

The Pilgrims are dead. The Mayflower's little company 
all sleep along the shores of their New World home. But 
the songs which awakened the echo upon that wintry Sab- 
bath morning are still floating through the forests and over 
the hills and plains of our land in unison with the song of 
peace and good will to men. They being dead yet speak. 
The music of that grand chorus rings in our ears to-day! 
And down in the future when the singers are forgotten, it 
will still have its influence as an educating power among 
the masses. 

The landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in 1620, 
and upon that solid foundation, dedicating them.selves and 
the land of their adoption to God, was a land-mark from 
which we cannot depart without danger. 

Religious freedom having been secured the desire for 
political emancipation followed as a consequence. A spirit 
of independence and self reliance, engendered by the situa- 
tion, fostered by the times and intensified by the circtim- 
stances, passed as an inheritance to the generations which 
preceded the Revolution. During these years of probation 
the problem of self-government was gradually working it- 
self out to a successful solution in the minds and hearts of 



13 



the people. Wlicn tin- inptuii.- with (h'eat Britain oaiiic 
the cou!itr\ was not un])rci\])ar(.(l tor thi- is.siR-. TIr- same 
trust intio'.l whicli i;a\-c iuspiialioii to the- Pilgrims at 
1'1\ mouth, j^avL- wisdoui an<l delerniiuatiou to tlie Continen- 
tal Conj^ress and j^aNe courage and hope to the Continental 
Aini\. A ]>ra\'ino- general led the American forces. A 
tk-\oul sj)iril pervaded the National Legislature and ga\'e 
dignitv and force to its dtliherations. The franiers of the 
Declaration expressed their reliance upon Divine I'rovi- 
dvnce for the support of their jjriuciples. It wa.s again the 
more excellent sacrifices by which the )onng Nation ob- 
tained the witness and secured success for our arms. This 
was God's country from the beginning; and ui)on this soil 
if we are faithful to our trust will be demonstrated the great 
emancii)atiou that some da\' shall usher in the millenium. 

The dead past nia\- bur\- its dead issues, l)ut li\ing men, 
imbued with the sj)irit of patriotism, will press on to greater 
heights and nobler achievenR-nts, while the dead who have 
fallen in the cause of man will march .shoulder to .shonlder 
with those who are foremost in the fight. The dead of the 
Revolution still speak for freedom and for God. Peace was 
established and the government was recon.strncted. The 
thoughts of URU fell into ]iarmon\ with the genius of our 
institutions while the touutry assumed a high i)lace among 
the nations of the earth. 

Still souRthing was wanting to make- our olTering 
com])lete and to render our sacrifice accejjtable to 
(lod. Libiity had l)ul half a UR-auing. .\11 were not 
I'lei- upon our soil. The bondman had cour down U) us as 



an inheritance and he was still in chains. The Declaration 
was not for him while the Constitntion was only for his 
master. Slavery was an institntion of other days, 1)efore 
the spirit of the Declaration had become an element in the 
domestic life of the people. Unfortunately it survived 
both the Declaration and the Constitution. Under the 
genial warmth of a southern sun it flourished and grew into 
alarming proportions. It became the cherished institution 
of the South-land and began slowly to coil itself like a 
deadly serpent for a spring at the life of the Union. "The 
South has never been wronged by the North," said Gov- 
ernor Pickens of South Carolina. "Our claim of griev- 
ance is but a pretence. We cannot live together. Our 
institutions are at variance. If slavery must continue to 
us, we must dissolve the Union of the States." The North 
had long before realized tlie danger and sought to avert it 
by moral forces and esthetic teachings. The policy was 
too mild to be effective. The fetters of the black man 
were too strongly riveted to be broken or severed by any- 
thing but the blows of the hannner and the fires of the 
furnace. The wrong was deep-seated and obstinate. It 
was a crime against justice and liberty which civilization 
could only expiate by blood. The trouble culminated 
in 1861 when the country was startled by the booming of 
hostle cannon in Charleston harbor. 

The nation was now called to account for its sins — sins 
of commission upon the part of the South — sins of omis- 
sion upon the part of the North. It was the voice of our 
brothers' blood calling to Heaven for redress. It was in 



15 



vain that we pleadrd tlial \vc ux-re not onr brotliers keeper 
— that We had no C*)n>litnli()nal v\\^]\{ to interfere with the 
rij^hts of the vSonlh. ( )nr elear (hil\ had al\va\s been to 
proehiini lil)ert\- throni^liont the land; IjuI we stood and 
saw the i)ortals of tlie temple elosed aj^ainst a proscril)ed 
and down-trodden race. Tlie decree had j^one forth that 
heneetorth tlie doors ninst l)e open to all; and if not oi)ened 
by the ke)' of jnstice they must be forced by the sword. 

The storm had broken upon us. The cloud came from 
the vSontli and not from the North. The North had never 
been ai^oressive except by speech and j)en. It was now 
compelled to take nj) arms to defend its own life. It was 
not because the vSouth had been wronj^ed, l)Ut because the 
slaveholder beliexed that slaver\- and freedom stood in such 
antaooiiism to each other, that the two systems could not 
be administered upon the .same .soil and by the same law- 
making; j)ower, and that unless a separation could be forced 
slavery would ha\e to j^o down Ijefore an advancing; ci\ili- 
zation. 

It was then that the sacrifice offered 1)\- the North ol)- 
tained the witness of the rii^hteoiisness of its cause. The 
South came to the sacrifice offering; upt)u its altar the un- 
letpiited toil of its enslax'ed millions. It l)rou^ht the pro- 
ducts ol il.s servitude ami offered the unholy fruits of .seces- 
sion. It lij^hted its fires wdth the coals of .sectional hatred 
and from the blazing torch of war. The Xorlh came with 
the products of free labor and lii^hted its altar fires from 
llu- torch of libertw It raiiu- with its t)ffirin^ of iVee edu- 
cation lor all, with e()ual pruilems under the law and with 

16 



that potential weapon of the free man, a free ballot. If 
Abel's sacrifice obtained the witness that was righteous, 
then the sacrifice of the North with the Proclamation of 
Emancipation of January, 1863, the grandest document of 
its kind in all history, and the greatest triumph of modern 
civilization, was such an act of supreme righteousness as 
to give the North the witness of all the ages that shall 
hereafter come and go. Being dead, the generation which 
achieved such important results shall speak on as long as 
suns shall rise and set. 

In that memorable struggle were born new impulses and 
holier ambitions in the hearts of the American people. The 
sacrifice was one of much blood. The death angel passed 
through the land and into nearly every household and 
smote, not only the first born, but in many cases whole 
families of brave boys. Before me are men who know the 
truth of these utterances. Thirty years tell that they 
lived throuo-h the time when marshall music filled the air 
and armed battallions marched through our streets and 
into the field, in defence of the land they loved and the 
institutions they were determined to preserve undefiled. 

They were imbued with the spirit of the martyred 
Lincoln when he said, " Without contemplating conse- 
quences, before high Heaven and in the face of the world, 
I swear eternal fidelity to the just cause as I deem it, of 
the land of my life, my liberty and my love." They were 
honorable wounds which tell of their participation in the 
great strife. They offered their lives without reserve and 
placed their all upon the altar of the country. Christ 

17 



said, " Greater low liath no man than this, tliat a man la}' 
down his life for his friend's." 

Von offered yonrs and by \onr side in tlie strife many a 
brave comrade fell and fonnd his grave npon the battle- 
fKld. Greater love hath no man shown for his conntry 
than this. N(me with greater loyalty have ever given 
their lives for their fellow men. 

iM'om their graves, being dead, they speak us to-day. 
Thev speak to us through the history of their deeds and 
daring. The>' s])eak to us through the loving memories 
which the living have cherished for their patriotism. 
They speak to us through the Grand Army of the Republic, 
which after the war brought the veterans of the land and 
sea into closer comradeship and preserved among their 
Archives the traditions of the camji-fire and the march, of 
the bivouac and the fight. Von my comrades, even with 
silent tongues, are speaking eloquently to the country in 
your daily lives and in the abiding loyalty, that as veter- 
ans and survivors of the war you inspire in the souls of 
the present generation of young men. 

Your sacrifice has been offered in your own bodies and 
in the firstlings of )our flocks. It has been acceptal)le to 
God and your country has im})Uted it to you for righteous- 
ness. You are resting now from the fatigues and dangers 
of the campaign ; but while \ on rest you are reaching 
forward to new conquests, \ou are moving forward a con- 
quering arm\ in the departments of peace. 

The Graml Arm\ s])eaks to the i)i'oi)le not onh' through 
the inllueuee of its (jrgani/.ati(jn of li\'ing members, but 



through its dead who fonoht under the banners of the 
great Armies of the North but did not survive the war. 
What a mighty voice speaks from our National Cemeteries 
and from the lone grave, of the dead soldier, by the way- 
side. What potent influences are going up from the many 
fields that the war drenched with human blood. Silently 
the grass may grow over the>e fields and plentifully the 
grain may yield its wealth to the garner, while the glad 
husbandman sings his harvest home ; but the memory of 
what was done there will never fade. Though centuries 
of peace may roll over -these fields they will not be for- 
gottten, for to all time, they will be hallowed spots where 
for every drop of blood that ebbed from the faithful sol- 
dier's heart, there will spring up a new germ, in some 
living heart, as a safeguard to Republican institutions. 
Our boys, who read the history of their heroism and who 
may some day tread with pilgrim feet over these mem- 
orable spots, as the}' recall the sacrifice, will drink in fresh 
inspirations of patriotism and will receive new courage to 
emulate their example in defence of country, flag and 
home. These dead heroes as well as the living comrades, 
speak to us to-day, not of strife but of harmony, not of 
war but of peace. 

It is true that the signs of the times point to many a 
hard contest in the early coming days ; but they will be 
the battles of mind grappling with the great problems 
that the rapidly changing panorama of our National 
growth are continually forcing upon our attention. They 
are not to be decided by the sword upon new fields of 



blood, l)nt within ihr l(.'t;isl;ui\e arena, where stroiiocr and 
a])ler nK-n must he sent, fnll\- endowed witli cultivation, 
al)ilit\- and sound judiLjincnt to ()])i)os(.- mind to mind, rea- 
son ai^ainst fallae\- and moral eonraj^e in opposition to 
political chicanery. 

The si.i^ns of the times also po\ut [o the sij^nificant fact 
that sometime in the future, and prol)ably not so far off as 
it now seems, " Nation shall not lift uj) the sword a^^ainst 
Nation, neither shall they learn war any more." This is 
one of the glorious fruits that the (irand Anny of the 
Re]mblic has brought for its offering. Fresh from the 
field where the sword had steeped itself to the hilt in 
blood, and where human glory, if such there be in war, 
had drained the cup to into.xication, a victorious army 
quietly grounded its arms and taking up the pursuits of 
domestic life, turned its weapons into ploughshares and 
pruning hooks and prepared the once field of death, for a 
gracious harvest of the fruits of peace. 

Soon the last comrade of the Grand Arm)- must fall ; 
but the organization will live on in the work it has done; 
and the dead soldier will sjK-ak to the futtire as he speaks 
to-(lay breathing new life into the generations of young 
men as they shall march to the front in the management 
of the great ])olitical interests of the country. In the war 
the comrades that comj)ose the (irand Army fought the 
battles for our Union. vSinee peaix was declared under 
their frattrnal organization they have fought tlu' battles 



of the coming centuries by demonstrating that pacific or- 
ganization and good citizenship can not only repair the 
ravages of war but can build up a Nation upon a more 
solid and enduring basis than upon warships and arsenals. 
Yours has been the more acceptable offering ; and from 
your altar fires sweet incense arises to heaven. The gleams 
of its flames are your camp-fires and are the beacon-lights 
of emancipation and liberty to all the world. When the 
last prayer shall be said over the last dead comrade and 
the last requiem shall be sung over his grave, he will still 
speak to the living both of the past and the future. His 
voice will be heard in the loyalty of his children and in 
their devotion to the old flag. It will be heard in the better 
and ever improving free education to the masses and in 
the more exalted National virtue which springs from the 
performance of noble deeds and in the living of good lives. 

To-day the Nation weeps over its dead and strews flow- 
ers upon their graves. But the air is full of song and the 
household is full of rejoicing in remembrance of the bles- 
sings, whicli, through their lives, an honorable peace has 
brought to our doors. Long ma>- the flag that they 
so nobly defended wave over this favored country! 
Long may the Nation's children gather under its folds and 
fling its colors into the untainted atmosphere of American 
loyalty. Long may the people shout and rejoice as its- 
every star becomes a star of promise and its bright stripes, 
radiant with beauty, shall symbolize the the sunrise of 
yniversal peace. Comrades of the Grand Army yoiir n;is= 



?i 



sioti upon caitli lia> been rei)lcte with grand resnlts. May 
yonr reward in luaxcn be as great as your scn'ices have 
been here. 



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